Summary Report: South Africa
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Potential data availability within the Inventory Tool ranges from Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III Carbon stock estimates.
Tier I: Global sediment carbon stock estimates.
Tier II: Country- or territory-level sediment carbon stock estimates.
Tier III: Modeled country- or territory-level sediment carbon stock estimates.
This document includes country-specific insights and more detailed analysis, including carbon stocks, emissions factors, and ecosystem wetland area for mangrove, marsh, and seagrass habitats. This report details information for the selected geography, South Africa.
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This map represents the area of South Africa and the locations of both soil cores and vegetation samples included in the Coastal Carbon Atlas.
Total Carbon Stock Estimates
Total Carbon stock estimates were calculated for each geography in total, and for mangrove, tidal marsh, and seagrass habitats, when available.
We estimate that South Africa contains a mean estimate of 2677000 megagrams per hectare sediment carbon stock.
We estimate that South Africa contains between 3409000 to 1945000 megagrams per hectare sediment carbon to a depth of 1 m, with a mean estimate of 2677000 megagrams per hectare.
| Country | Territory | Total Stocks | Upper CI | Lower CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | South Africa | 2677000 | 1945000 | 3409000 |
| Country | Territory | Habitat | Total Stock | Lower CI | Upper CI | Standard Error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | South Africa | Mangrove | 161300 | 108800 | 213800 | 27360 |
This total estimate includes total mangrove soil carbon stocks, with a mean estimate of 161300 megagrams per hectare soil carbon to a depth of 1 meter.
| Country | Territory | Habitat | Total Stock | Lower CI | Upper CI | Standard Error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | South Africa | Marsh | 2516000 | 1837000 | 3195000 | 353800 |
This total estimate also includes total tidal marsh carbon stocks, with a mean estimate of 2516000 megagrams per hectare soil carbon to a depth of 1 meter.
| Territory | Habitat | Total Stock |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | Seagrass | 4115000 |
This estimate also includes seagrass soil carbon stocks for South Africa which we estimate to have a mean of 4115000 megagrams per hectare sediment carbon stock.
Wetland Areas and Activities
We estimate mangrove area in South Africa to be 1188 to 1568 hectares, with a mean estimate of 1353 hectares according to Global Mangrove Watch, Bunting et al. (2018).
We estimate tidal marsh area in South Africa to be 5976 to 11150 hectares, with a mean estimate of 9866 according to Worthington et al. (2024).
We estimate seagrass area to be South Africa to be a mean of 38100 hectares, according to McKenzie et al. (2020), which aggregates global seagrass data from a number of sources.
Calculated Stocks and Emissions Factors
This section of the report details whether data is available to estimate Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III value estimates for tidal marsh, mangrove, and seagrass ecosystems in South Africa.
If data for the selected country is available in the Coastal Carbon Atlas, we have applied a Tier II emission factor based on a simple average of country specific data queried from the Atlas.
Within the Coastal Carbon Atlas, data from the selected geography, South Africa, includes soil samples, but does not yet include vegetation samples.
Soil core data from South Africa included in the Coastal Carbon Atlas consists of 253 soil profiles from 21 sites. This data comes from 2 distinct habitat type(s).
In the case that there is not yet any country specific information in the Coastal Carbon Atlas, we instead applied IPCC Tier I estimate, which are estimated global values. IPCC Global estimates for mangrove, marsh, and seagrass ecosystems are listed below.
The table titled “Availiability of Territory-Level Data” in this section also details whether the calculated Tier II, or territory-level sediment carbon stock value is significantly different from the estimated global values. This is observed in the “Reporting Insight” column, and can be helpful in observing when a habitat has a higher or lower estimated sediment carbon stock value than the IPCC Global estimates.
| Habitat | Mean | Lower_CI | Upper_CI |
|---|---|---|---|
| mangrove | 386 | 351 | 424 |
| marsh | 255 | 254 | 297 |
| seagrass | 108 | 84 | 139 |
Data Availiability by Tier - Reporting Insight
| Country | Territory | Habitat | Tier | Reporting Insight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | South Africa | mangrove | Territory-Level | Territory-level average is significantly less than global value |
| South Africa | South Africa | marsh | Global | No Tier II data available at this time |
| South Africa | South Africa | seagrass | Global | No Tier II data available at this time |
Tier I Carbon Stocks - Global Estimates
This section includes estimated global sediment carbon stocks included for South Africa. In the case that all habitats; mangrove, tidal marsh, and seagrass have availiable territory-level estimates, please refer to Table 2: IPCC Tier I Value Estimates for applicable global values.
Tier II: Territory Level Carbon Stocks
This table includes country or territory level sediment carbon stock estimates for South Africa. Estimates in this table were derived from available soil core data queried from the Coastal Carbon Atlas.
A selected country may have available territory-level values for one or multiple habitats, this is dependent on core data accessible through the Coastal Carbon Atlas. If a territory has habitat area, but that respective habitat type does not have an associated territory-level stock estimate, there is insufficient core data in the Coastal Carbon Atlas to estimate sediment carbon stock. At the time of analysis, referencing Version 1.5.0 of the Coastal Carbon Atlas and Data Library, South Africa is represented by a total of 253 cores across 1 distinct habitat, mangrove forests.
| Country | Territory | Habitat | Mean Stock (MgHa) | Lower CI | Upper CI | Standard Error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | South Africa | mangrove | 119 | 83.3 | 155 | 18.3 |
Tier III Carbon Stocks
Tier III: modeled sediment carbon stocks were estimated, when available, using remote sensing data from Maxwell et al 2021 and Sanderman et al 2018. The table below details whether estimated values are available for any habitat in South Africa, and details any overlap with associated global or territory-level estimates.
If there are no modeled estimates associated with the selected geography and specific habitat of interest, please refer to above tables of global and territory-level sediment carbon stocks.
| Country | Territory | Habitat | Mean Stock (MgHa) | Lower CI | Upper CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | South Africa | mangrove | 239 | 196 | 282 |
In the selected geography, modeled estimated stock MgHa values are, greater than territory-level values estimated from Coastal Carbon Atlas Data. In this case, the modeled Remote-sensing esimate is significantly greater than country-specific average. Additionally, estimated modeled stock values derived from remote sensing are less than estimates global IPCC values. In this case, the modeled Remote-sensing esimate is significantly less than Tier I global estimates.
Visualizations
1. Data Metrics
2. Emissions Factors
3. Activity Data
